Techniques Rest Stud Revision A Guide for Sixth Form Plan Organise Techniques Rest Study Ex ercise Practise Eat well Plan Organise
Contents Calendar 1-4 Planning your time 5 Phone use 6 Revision subject planner 7 Learning techniques 8-11 Practising past papers 12-15 Wellbeing 16 Exam Dates - at a glance Subject 1 Subject 2 Subject 3
March 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 1
April 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 2
May 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 3
June 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 4
Planning Your Time No one expects you to work 24/7 and it is not healthy to do so, even when you are preparing for exams. You are going to have various commitments that you will have to work around. 1 On your calendar, block out when you are in school, at work, or have social/ family commitments. 2 Now look at the time you have left and share this time between your subjects and between learning the content of your course and applying your knowledge to past exams papers. 3 If you add extra events to your calendar, you will need to find extra time to revise. 4 You should sacrifice some of your social time around the exam period to ensure you have good results. 5 Although these are mock exams, your grades will help teachers to predict grades for university applications or other courses. Also, the more you can learn now, the more prepared you will be for your final A levels and better you will do. Mock exams, if framedright, can be incredibly beneficial forstudents. Helping them to see that is part of the challenge. They can helpstudents tostartrevising early, to practise effectiverevision strategies, to improve their knowledge, to familiarise themselves with pressure, and act as a guide moving forward. THE GUARDIAN - 2015 Are you ready to revise? Have you got your folders- all organised and in order? Have you got your textbooks? Do you have papers, pens, folders, highlighters? Do you have any helpful websites? Do you have all of your past papers? Checklist 5
6 Phone Use
Revision Subject Planner Planning Learning Applying Exam Do you have your syllabus / organised folder / caught up with any missed work / past papers? Which revision techniques are you going to use to learn this subject? Are your revision materials ready? What exam techniques are you using? Record your scores for past papers. Put in the dates, times and the rooms. Subject 1 Subject 2 Subject 3 7
Learning Techniques You will have factual information to commit to memory. On average, humans can remember 7 things in their working memory. This means we sometimes need simple strategies either to work around this fact, or to maximise this limited capacity. One such strategy is to write things down. By doing this, we don t have to store and juggle lots of information in our working memory; we can store it on a piece of paper and refer back to it when we need it. Space out your study sessions instead of cramming everything at the last minute. This leaves you enough time to forget and re-learn: a process that helps you cement and imbed knowledge in your memory. The following techniques should help with your revision sessions. Chunking Chunking is when small bits of information are grouped together. For example, it is much easier to remember a number sequence like 2, 8, 0, 3, 1, 9, 8, 5 when it is chunked into three groups (i.e. in a calendar format) like this: 28, 03, 1985. 8
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Start at the centre with the page with a circle or square ( central node ) indicating the main topic. The main ideas that make up the topic should be represented by thick branches that emanate from the central node. Your branches should have one word or two for the purpose of clarity. Think of each branch as a heading in an essay or a book. Create smaller sub-branches which extend out from every branch. Think of these as sub-headings. At the end of each branch, write out one key word or concept. This will make it easier to remember key concepts during revision. Find images or pictures which illustrate your ideas and paste them onto key areas in your diagram. Try to find connections between the various branches and sub-branches; this is a crucial aspect of critical thinking. 11
Practising Past Papers 12 A level exams are not just about knowledge, they are about how you use that knowledge. It is important that you have a deep level of understanding and that you can answer the questions. Teach someone else: People learn better and recall more when they think they will soon need to teach the material to someone else. Teaching also forces you to communicate your thoughts clearly and precisely, selecting the real important points and making links for a full explanation. Furthermore if you know you have to explain something out loud to someone else, it removes this possibility of self-deceit. Answering the questions is a skill, and like any skill it needs practising: You will become familiar with the kinds of questions that come up in exams. More importantly, you pick up on slight nuances in questions, as well as get accustomed to particular approaches to answering questions which they are now able to answer with ease. Identify learning gaps: Past papers are the most effective way to identify learning gaps; and since you will be answering lots of questions, they will develop a unique self-awareness of their personal learning. The aim is to reduce these learning gaps as time progresses. Anything you can t do, ask your teacher for guidance. Reduce anxiety: A crucial reason for starting off with exam papers is that it helps to take away the fear of exams. Students do poorly in exams not because they are less intelligent, but because of an unhealthy fear of taking exams that cause immense stress and anxiety. The more past papers students do as part of their daily revision, the better prepared they ll be for the real exam. Repetition: Those who do best in exams have been over the same paper several times. Repetition and familiarity are essential. The Mark Scheme: Become familiar with the mark scheme as early as possible. Know how and why you get marks - again, ask your teacher if you are not sure how marks are allocated.
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Wellbeing 16 Learn to recognise if you are feeling stressed and do something about it. Common physical symptoms are: feeling nauseous, headaches, low energy, insomnia, rapid heartbeat and muscle tension. Common cognitive symptoms of stress are inability to concentrate, seeing only the negative and constant worrying. If you recognise any of these symptoms, try one of the activities below. Challenge your unhelpful thinking: Try to recognise if you are getting caught up in a pattern of negative, catastrophic thinking. This could be having a huge impact on how you are feeling both mentally and physically. One way to challenge your thoughts is by talking to someone else. Confide in a friend how you are feeling or talk to a family member or teacher. It I highly likely that they will be able to help you to put things in perspective and remind you of all the good work you have done and how your revision will be helping you to learn and to be prepared for the exams. Take a break If you are finding it difficult to concentrate due to panic, a walk in the fresh air will help or some vigorous exercise will help you to calm down and de-stress. Calm breathing Practise some simple clam breathing if you feel anxious. The more you practise, the better you will get and the exercises will be more effective. Find a quiet place to sit and try to keep your shoulders down and relaxed, with your spine upright. Place your hand on your stomach, you should feel it rise as you breath in and then fall as you breath out. Focus your attention on your breathing and try to take at least 10 slow breaths, carefully following the complete cycle of each breathe in and breathe out. Approach to learning If you suffer from stress and anxiety, little and often is the best approach. Start early so you do not feel like you are leaving important things to last minute. Feeling rushed or running out of time can cause anxiety. Prepare your body and mind Eat well including key vitamins: folic acid, B12 and antioxidants. Drink plenty of water. Most of us are dehydrated and do not even know it. When you do not drink enough water, your body and mind become weak and tired. Water makes red blood cells which make us more active and gives you more energy. Get enough sleep During sleep, your brain recharges. Studies have shown that your brain needs sleep to change new memories in to long-term memories. Exercise Helps relaxation and stress relief. Releases endorphins which make people feel happy and it encourages a good night s sleep.
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Techniques Rest Stud Plan Organise Techniques Rest Study Ex ercise Practise Eat well Plan Organise